Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Bornean Rainbow

Why are there so many
Species endangered?
For decades, they haven’t been spied
Some may be hanging on
But others departed
Despite how the scientists tried

So we’d been told
And we mostly believed it
Hoping we’re wrong, but we’ll see
And sometimes it happens
And everyone’s happy—
The Bornean Rainbow and me

Who said amphibians
Could go into hiding
And why should we go and look?
Someone in Borneo
Had someone believe them
And somehow that’s all that it took

It’s so amazing—successful toad-gazing
Without knowing what we might see
But sometimes it happens
And everyone’s happy—
The Bornean Rainbow and me

All of us wishing it well
To lose it again would be tragic

Had it been half-extinct?
Because of our choices?
I think it’s more than a shame
Is this the warning-bell
We finally notice?
Or will we point fingers and blame?

I’ve watched it too many times to be hopeful—
The odds are, we never will see…
But sometimes it happens
And everyone’s happy—
The Bornean Rainbow and me

Via MSNBC's Cosmic Log, we hear that an endangered toad, not seen since 1924, has been rediscovered--and photographed for the first time! Check out the photos at the link; this is one beautiful toad, the Bornean Rainbow Toad (aka the Sambas Stream Toad), the second of the "top ten most wanted" missing toad species.


(oh, yeah, for those of you who are still wondering, the verse is a parody of Kermit The Frog's "Rainbow Connection")
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5 comments:

yokohamamama said...

Aha! I *knew* that rhythm was familiar from somewhere! And as soon as I got to "Rainbow Connection", I went right back up to the top and sang through the whole thing. I am duly impressed that you worked "toad-gazing" into that...

Just posted about endangered amphibians myself-- the Mudskippers, a number of Japanese species of which have been described and named by His Majesty Akihito, Heisei Emperor of Japan (a Gentleman Scientist who is working to save his childhood favorite Mudskippers from extinction).

11:54 AM
Anonymous said...

Wow, thats neat - both your tribute to the subject [and the rainbow connection of course], and the whole project to 'search and rescue' missing amphibian species.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

5:57 PM
entropy said...

You know, I've seen more honeybees this summer than I have done in a long time. I'm usually impressed in seeing two or three a year.

Good for the amphibians. I'm glad there are some expectedly extinct species surviving.

@ anonymous #2:

Bugger off.

2:50 PM
entropy said...

Er, just to note that my comment about Anonymous #2 applies to a comment that is no longer extant, and that it was not targeted at the other Anonymous who made the second comment in the thread. ;)

And even through a second reading, I still don't process this poem with Rainbow Connection as a filter. Which is odd, because I usually pick up on the reference art and have it floatin' around in the back of my mind if I don't apply the flavor and tempo to what I'm reading.

11:40 PM
Cuttlefish said...

No worries, entropy--I thought I had deleted that one while leaving its shell for your comment to refer to, but I guess I messed up. Long-time readers would surely have guessed that you were referring to our own Dancing Monkey. I've deleted some 3 dozen of his comments just today, which means he's feeling even more inadequate than usual.

3:33 PM

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